Monday was a very big day for Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX): The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the companies’ COVID-19 vaccine for folks ages 16 and up. This is an important milestone, not only for PFE and BNTX, but for the nation as a whole.
Most importantly, this marks the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine. While the COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) COVID-19 are available to the public, it is by Emergency Use Approval (EUA) from the FDA. Now, this could change soon for Moderna, as that biotech company submitted an application to the FDA for approval back in June for its COVID-19 vaccine, just a month after Pfizer and BioNTech.
FDA approval could go a long way in convincing more people to get the vaccine. In March, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 17% of Americans would like to “wait and see” before receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. It also opens the door to mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations. In fact, the Pentagon will soon require that all military members be vaccinated, though a timeline hasn’t been finalized yet.
In the United States, about 170 million people, or about half of the country, have been fully vaccinated. And about 70% of American adults have received at least one vaccination dose.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has led the way in regard to doses administered. As of August 18, about 202 million doses of their vaccine had been administered. In comparison. Moderna has administered roughly 142 million doses, while Johnson & Johnson has administered nearly 14 million.
BioNTech and Pfizer Report Strong Earnings Results
Not surprisingly, these numbers have had a significant impact on BioNTech’s and Pfizer’s bottom lines in the most-recent quarter. For BioNTech’s second quarter, reported on August 9, the company achieved total revenue of 5.31 billion euros, or $6.23 billion, up an eye-popping 12,634% from 41.7 million euros in the same quarter a year ago.
Second-quarter earnings came in at 2.78 billion euros ($3.37 billion), compared to an earnings loss of 88.3 million euros in the second quarter of 2020. Earnings per share came in at 10.77 euros, or $12.64 per share, topping estimates for 8.91 euros by 20.9%.
Company management also noted that it reached a major milestone, as it has now supplied more than 1 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to countries around the world. Through its partnership with Pfizer, BioNTech has agreements for another 2.2 billion doses of the vaccine. Investors cheered the results, driving the stock up 15%.
Pfizer reported strong second-quarter earnings results on July 28. Adjusted earnings climbed 37.2% year-over-year to $1.07 per share, up from $0.78 per share in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue came in at $18.98 billion. Analysts were calling for earnings of $0.97 per share on $18.74 billion in revenue, so the pharmaceutical company topped earnings expectations by 10.3% and revenue expectations by 1.3%. The company also stated that it sold $7.8 billion worth of COVID-19 shots and upped its 2021 revenue estimates from $26 billion to $33.5 billion. PFE popped 3.2% on the heels of its better-than-expected second-quarter report.
Following the FDA approval announcement on Monday, BNTX surged nearly 10% and PFE climbed about 2.5%. I should add that this has been a trend for the two stocks; when positive news is announced regarding their COVID-19 vaccine, BNTX soars while PFE moves slightly higher.
The reality is BioNTech is the fundamentally superior biopharma stock out of the two. Just take a look at their grades in Portfolio Grader below:
As you can see above, BNTX (the Report Card on the left) earns higher marks than PFE (Report Card on the right) in nearly every category that goes into my stock analysis.
In addition, BNTX has been a “Buy” since October. It held a B-rating from October to March and then was upgraded to an A-rating in March. PFE, on the other hand, was only recently upgraded. It had held a C-rating since May, and was downgraded to a D-rating, a “Sell,” in April, as well as in January and February.
So, it should come as no surprise that BNTX has significantly outperformed PFE. BNTX has surged nearly 345% year-to-date. In comparison, PFE is up about 35% in the same time period.
And I’m pleased to say that my Growth Investor subscribers have been along for the ride, as I recommended BNTX to my Growth Investor Buy List back in April 2021. I look for this stock to continue climbing higher over the longer term, which is why it will be one of my top five stocks for next month. (I’ll share all the details on why, as well as on the other four stocks on this list, in Friday’s Growth Investor Monthly Issue for September, so stay tuned!)
The bottom line: If you’re trying to decide who is the real winner out of the Pfizer and BioNTech partnership, BNTX takes the cake.
Sincerely,
Louis Navellier
P.S. There is a great divide opening up in America — and investing in my Growth Investor stocks will help get you on the right side of it. On one side is a new aristocracy that’s amassing more wealth more quickly than any other group in American history. For people like me, the one percent, life has never been better, more prosperous.
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What’s happening is only going to gather in strength over the coming decades. It certainly won’t weaken.
Few Americans even know that any of this is going on. I’ve never seen anyone from my side of the chasm step forward to explain any of these things.
It’s why I put together this video. In it, I’ll lay out exactly what is happening, including several key steps every American should take right now.
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It’s free to watch, and by doing so, I know you’ll be ahead of everyone else struggling to understand what is really going on.
The Editor hereby discloses that as of the date of this email, the Editor, directly or indirectly, owns the following securities that are the subject of the commentary, analysis, opinions, advice, or recommendations in, or which are otherwise mentioned in, the essay set forth below:
BioNTech SE (BNTX)
Louis Navellier, who has been called “one of the most important money managers of our time,” has broken the silence in this shocking “tell all” video… exposing one of the most shocking events in our country’s history… and the one move every American needs to make today.
